The Grand Palace
the official residence of the emperor and the royal family. the front part of the palace serves as the administrative office and barracks for the palace guard. the back are mostly private quarters -- housing for the many (or not) consorts of the emperor, his children, the palace help and the royal generals.
The Tao Palace
this palace lies at the innermost compund, furthest away from the emeperor's chambers. the residents consist of Consort Tao from the western nations, her son Prince Wei (6th son, 9th in line), Raika the princes' general, and Hana the servant. the current emeperor and Consort Tao absolutely hate each other for petty reasons, so he has never stepped foot into the compound after they consummated their marriage.
Princes and their generals
at age 10, every prince is assigned a companion. the companion is usually no more than 5 years older, and will train to become their general. only the princes (and some aristocrats) are allowed to have one, so it's always a male. this has been going on for centuries since the country's founding. so much homosexual behaviour... there have been other female companions before but none managed to complete their training and Raika is the first to become a fully-fledged general. she is disliked by many of the other generals (because sexism) and she serves the equally disliked Prince Wei (because the emperor could care less about him).
Rules of succession
the emperor will name a successor, usually when the oldest of his children become of legal age. of course, the emperor can pick whoever he pleases to be the crown prince, but certain criteria have to be met: 1) must be the son of a consort; 2) achieved a certain military rank OR served in the military for some time; 3) his general is of a certain military rank; 4) has at least one consort to bear him an heir; 5) his consort AND general are not current or former members of the clans.
of the princes, the third is married to a Ki (Princess Consort Keri), while the fourth and sixth have clan members as their generals (Shayu and Raika respectively).
The 9 Clans
the clans are matrilineal and matriarchal, with more daughters born into families than sons. it is led by the chief, who is usually the oldest living female, but not always. depending on the clan and culture, the matriarch of the most powerful family within the clan might hold the title of chief instead. the clans have their own villages spread around the country to avoid territory disputes (and there has been many disputes).
while clan members have the freedom to do whatever they wish, tradition dictates that the oldest daughter in the family is bound by duty to marry and produce an heir (preferrably more). this is usually not the case with smaller, less influential families/branches. clan members are not allowed to participate in politics*** with a few exceptions.
The registry
every clan has a registry, a full list of their members from the very first chief. it serves as a way to document massive family trees and inter-clan marriages. while purists exist in every clan, members are encouraged to marry non-members to diversify the gene pool and avoid inbreeding. children born into the clans will be automatically put in the registry as long as a parent is a member.
The western nations
a collective term for the countries that lie west. the east and west are separated by a vast desert strip which can be crossed by one major highway, two railways in the north and south, or by plane. there are plans to build a third track, one that goes from the west region straight to the capital city. one railway company has hired an engineer from the western nations to help build this track.
Consort Tao was a politician's daughter from one of the smaller western nations.